Todd MacLean, Charlottetown, PEI
“I think you’re in for a royal treat,” smiled
Royal Winnipeg Ballet artistic director André Lewis
in his introduction to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s
Mixed Repertoire performance at Confederation Centre’s Homburg
Theatre this past Saturday night.
After Lewis’ parting words, the curtain rose on two female
dancers at the sides of the stage — who soon became four — as a
bustlingly fluid dance of suspense played out before our eyes
and ears for the first number of the night,
In Tandem, choreographed by Peter Quantz.
It was the first time in six years that Royal
Winnipeg feet had graced the Confederation Centre
stage, and the jam-packed audience of dance enthusiasts was
clearly starved-in-excitement for world-class ballet in a local
setting.
And for those of you who may not call yourself a
ballet-enthusiast, all it takes is to closely watch a highly
skilled manoeuvre by a professional female or male dancer — and
to be able to observe and delight in the incredible combination
of skill, strength and precision it takes, for example, to jump
so powerfully and land so placidly — and it can become a highly
enjoyable experience even for the most, well, “monster-truck-ian”
of those among us, I do believe.
The program continued in the first half with The
Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude, a piece
choreographed by William Forsythe, which was, certainly, a
joyous and courtly feat of feet, I would say, complete with
marvelous pointe dancing by its three beaming and prancing
ballerinas (who were clad in green plant-esque tutus) and an
exquisite display of über-precise pas de bourées and attitude
poses.
Most definitely the highlight of the night came with the second
half’s presentation of The Doorway: Scenes from
Leonard Cohen, choreographed by Jorden Morris.
Four songs and one poem were featured: The Letters;
Bird on a Wire; Sisters of
Mercy and Hallelujah, with
the poem Since You Asked from the CD
Born to the Breed as spoken word. Cohen
interview-clip introductions began each one of them and
interpretive dancing began over top of this audio.
To top it off, three of these songs were performed live by B.C.
recording artist Allison Crowe, seated at a grand piano to the
left of the stage.
With an a cappella version of Sisters of Mercy, she
sent chills up the spine as dancers in white flowing dresses
illustrated each line and melody in perfect expression.
And Hallelujah, naturally the finale to
the presentation, I would have to say was probably one of the
most beautiful performances I have ever seen in my entire life.
Just one ballerina, clad in white, a chair and a spotlight. And
the clang of the chair as she (Jo-Ann Sundermeier) pushed it to
the ground at the line, “she tied you to her kitchen chair,”
probably expressed most flawlessly that sense of raw emotion —
in that vulnerable, affected and yet harshly enduring sense —
that I have ever witnessed in a presentation of this sacred
song.
They received an immediate standing ovation as the piece ended.
The night’s final piece, Pas D’Action,
choreographed by Brian Macdonald, was a comedic delight —
danced by one female dancer and four male dancers who displayed
remarkable skill at playing the role of unskilled dancers. It
was a fantastic note to usher us all home.
What a magnificent show it was. And as André Lewis indicated in
his introduction, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet
will be aiming to get back to its routine of bi-annual
presentations in Charlottetown in the coming years. We will
certainly be looking forward to that next royal treat.
And who knows? Maybe we’ll even see some “monster-truck-ians”
there, hanging on every jump, next time around...
Next week: I’m off to the Holland College Welshman
Community Band Concert on Nov. 19 in Charlottetown.
Todd MacLean is a local freelance writer and
musician. If you have a comment or suggestion for a review, you
can get in touch with him at
tmaclean@theguardian.pe.ca
or at 626-1242. But he won’t be offended if you don’t.
http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/Arts/Entertainment/2012-11-16/article-3121753/A-royal-treat/1
